>> did mika say be there or be square? >> she did. >> thanks for being with us. if you are in delaware, vote carefully. >> it's "morning joe" right now it's the "daily rundown." >> it this morning as delaware goes so goes republican hopes for taking the senate. we're live on the ground in the most watched race of the day. plus, just what is it the republican position on tax cuts? the "daily rundown" interview with mitch mcconnell. we'll ask him about his dispute with john boehner and after a year in an iranian prison, sharh shourd is released. good morning. it's tuesday, september 14th, 2010. 49 days until the midterm elections. i'm savannah guthrie. >> i'm chuck todd. we'll start in tehran with the

developing story. sarah shourd was released from iranian custody. not quite free filling out paperwork. andrea mitchell broke the story and she has the latest on the ground in tehran. andrea, take it away. >> reporter: well, chuck and savannah, this is obviously emotional. it's an up and down crazy kind of story. sarah shourd has been released. the iranian government announced that now. we don't know first of all whether bail is being paid. there are a lot of reports that bail is being paid and there are reports that we cannot confirm that some gulf nations may be involved. some u.s. allies who have very close relationships here. we don't know if money is being transferred but it is not u.s. government money and the paperwork still being done. the swiss ambassador downstairs below me waiting for her arrival here. so we are expecting her any

minute but things happen in a very slow methodical and sometimes difficult to understand way. it's iranian time. the good news is that sarah shourd is released and out and will go home. we don't know what her medical condition is. we know she has had some problems. in fact she was being released because of her medical problems but the next stage from u.s. perspective and family's perspective and sarah shourd's perspective is getting shane bauer and josh fattal, the two male hikers in iranian prison for more than a year. that is not what the iranians say about it. they say they are spies. they have not been formally charged. if they are released -- if sarah shourd was released and bail was paid, there would be legal ramifications of that.

>> andrea mitchell live where the news is this morning in tehran. thank you for your report. we'll look for more on "andrea mitchell reports" at 1:00 today. now to politics and big day of the 2010 primary season does not disappoint. the republicans chances to take the senate may be at stake today. in state after state establishment republicans under pressure from more conservative tea party candidates and as we said the stakes are higher in no place more than delaware. kelly o'donnell joins us live from wilmington this morning. all right, kelly. tell us what you're hearing on the ground and just how tight is this race? >> reporter: well, it's hard to know exactly but you can feel that a republican incumbent is feeling the pressure. i talked to mike castle. he had to go negative in this

campaign. it's something he's not comfortable with. i said are you outside your comfort zone. he acknowledged yes and he's been blunt about his opponent saying she's not qualified to serve. he remarked about her not being able to keep a job, having financial problems, allegations that he's put into a tough ad. christine o'donnell, the toe party candidate endorsed by sarah palin and tea party express has been gaining momentum and a lot of enthusiasm around her and her supporters. she says that those kinds of personal attacks are sleazy and that those will actually help her saying her own personal financial hardships help her to connect with voters. taking what is a negative trying to turn it into a positive. the character of the republican party in delaware is really potentially about to change. known for being more moderate, working with democrats, that's the brand of republicanism that has worked in delaware. that might be changing if christine o'donnell wins the

nomination for the u.s. senate seat. mike castle says if o'donnell wins than the democrat will win in november and republicans chances of getting joe biden's seat will be over. >> what a crazy way to end what has been a fascinating primary season. kelly o'donnell in wilmington. let's remind folks mike castle has been running and sitting in office on and off since 1966. he could be a victim here of just a simple throw the bums out. >> definition of an establishment candidate. >> let's move to the rest of the states and get a wrap of the other big races around the country. a slew of states from new hampshire to wisconsin to right here in washington, d.c. are heading to the polls. mark murray, let's run through what we're watching. let's start with new hampshire. another republican senate primary with a little bit of establishment versus conservative aspect to it. tell us about it. >> exactly, chuck.

in new hampshire and the republican race to replace senator judd gregg of new hampshire, kelly is the establishment backed candidate by folks who see her as the more electable and stronger candidate. but all of a sudden conservative has been making up ground and people are watching him. there's other names in the race as well. it's a crowded field. we'll be watching the races to see who will take on the democratic nominee. >> in new york the primary we're watching closest is probably the one that features charlie rangel trying to see if those ethics charges are going to cost him the democratic nomination against a family that he one time defeated. what do we know there? >> correct. charlie rangel is considered the front runner but as we've seen in races that have involved candidates who have some ethical questions or ethical clouds

hanging over them, sometimes they lose in primaries and so this is something we're going to watch. as you mentioned, rangel is running against a man whose father was defeated by rangel in 1970. >> and then we have washington, d.c. mayor. could washington have a new mayor? >> chuck, according to the polls it's very likely. "the washington post" poll has vince gray challenging mayor adrian fenty by a wide margin. the polling has been wrong in these primaries throughout the season so we don't know but adrian fenty is the underdog heading into today's primary. >> all right. deputy political director mark murray on a busy primary day. thank you. we move to the weather now. hurricane igor, the massive storm stretching more than 100 miles across now moving over bermuda as it heads across the atlantic. bill karins, love the name. igor. looks like a tough storm.

>> a couple years ago we had ivan which you knew would be a bad storm. we saw igor and knew it would cause problems. it's category 4 storm still. huge hurricane. very dangerous if headed toward land but as of now it's not. right behind it this morning our fifth hurricane of the season formed and that's hurricane julia. julia doesn't really strike fear in you. this one will stay in open water and not threaten anyone. igor is the one we'll be watching ever so closely as we go throughout the next couple of days. here's the official forecast. keep an eye on bermuda to the north. that's the area that we'll be watching. the storm will slowly -- painly flow mover. it will take five days to get from its current position to get toward bermuda. winds are now 135. it could be down to 105. category 2 hitting bermuda where they are used to big storms. it will do damage but not a devastating blow to the island out there. if anyone has cruising interest or anything else out there.

the hurricane forecasts have a lot of wiggle room and some uncertainties. this is a very certain forecast. almost zero nervousness. computers take this safely out to sea. large waves out there. if you want to get some surfing lessons in you could do that this upcoming weekend. >> good you mentioned that. >> there is that nonstop from national to bermuda that makes washington, d.c. an international airport without it reagan wouldn't be one. maybe this is the time to go. all right. bill karins. is there a hump on the back of that hurricane by the way? we've been curious about it. no? >> i'll check. i'll look at it. >> look closely. one thing to have an eye. all right. thanks very much. quickly before we go to break, a lot of buzz about elizabeth warren, head of the consumer protection agency, the new protection agency under wall street reform, how is it going to go down. plenty of sources are telling us it's going to happen this week but there's a wrinkle. they may do it without senate confirmation and have treasury

secretary tim geithner appoint her in an interim basis. not recess appointment but interim. still a way to avoid the senate. coming up, the daily rundown interview with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell just hours after he vowed every republican will oppose president obama's tax plan. will that move pay off? next, brand new numbers show the country isn't necessarily turning cartwheels over the republican agenda but they're not thrilled with the democrats either. ron brownstein will be here to break down the new poll. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. it's back to school. buckle down semester. president giving an education speech today. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. [ engine revving ]

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>> we've had a lot of ideas out there. we produced our own stimulus. more people today believe elvis presley is alive than stimulus created jobs. >> that was congressman mcedart. we have ron brownstein. ron, i want to get this one right. this is national journal, congress daily and pew. >> weekly congressional poll every week congress is in

session. >> we'll start with health care. it's the beginning of the slide for the congressional democrats. health care approval of health care reform and idea of we pe repealing this. >> elvis isn't alive. this poll looks broadly at some of the major ideas that republicans are talking about. one of the best pieces of news for them in the poll that shows complexity of public opinion is americans remain sour on health care reform. more people disapprove than approve. 45% say they disapprove. 38% say they approve. when you move to the next step and ask what they want to do now and ask 45% of people who disapprove what they want to do now, only 32% of americans want to repeal the health care law. >> this is among those -- >> this is 32% overall. 38% approve. many of the republican candidates or virtually every palestinian senate candidate is running on repealing the health

care law. that's support around a third. it shows you how much framing the debate matters. if the debate is about whether the health care bill is the right to do, they may shift the debate. >> tax cuts are the fight in washington. what's fascinating is you see a split in thirds among the electorate. 29% say extend cuts. 29% say repeal cuts but only for the wealthy. the third item, repeal all of the tax cuts for the middle class and for wealthy. 28% of americans feel that way. and no one in public life is taking that position. >> absolutely right. that's the pure deficit position. here again the dominant republican position despite what john boehner said on sunday we heard by mitch mcconnell yesterday is extending tax cuts for all americans including those above $250,000 a year is a 29%. similar to 32% who want to repeal reform and by the way, very similar as well we tested

the idea that these young guns, paul ryan and others promoted of turning medicare into a voucher that seniors use to buy private insurance. 33% support that. on three major ideas they talk about, others do better. on three core ideas, they are looking at support from a third of the population. >> i want to move to something else. open ended question. i love this better than asking and giving them a list of names. who leads the republican party. you did it open ended. this person candidate don't know is at 60%. obviously a very dominant force inside the republican party. 15% said nobody leads the republican party. and then you look here everything is in single digits. i want to single out john boehner at 4%. the white house is trying to increase that name i.d. every day. >> they want to personalize the broader argument that they're trying to make in the last weeks of the election to move this from a referendum on the performance of the country in two years under obama to more of a choice with republicans. you can see why they want to go in that direction.

on a number of these policy ideas the republicans may face difficulty winning republican support if they get a majority. when you look at the poll including this question about who the leaders are, it says while there has clearly been a backlash, obama overestimated the public's tolerance for expansion of government activism. there's a risk that a republican majority after november could make the same mistake in an opposite direction and roll back government in some areas for example like extending tax cuts to all americans that are facing a lot of suspicion at the outset from voters. >> ron brownstein, thank you. appreciate it. we love poll unless. coming up next in decision 2010, which senator promises constituents he'll tweet for them and washington gets ready to rumble. >> we're still in this wrestling match with john boehner and mitch mcconnell. >> all right. we'll talk to mitch mcconnell, one of the party's to this

wrestling batch that the president is talking about. chairman don't know is harder to run against. we'll talk to mitch mcconnell as the senate returns. supreme court justice stephen briar opens bup about what it is like behind the scenes of the supreme court. first, shuttle diplomacy. it has nothing to do with nasa nor the shuttle between washington and new york. it's when a diplomat is traveling back and forth between two different parties. the u.s. was able to get two sides to actually agree to face to face negotiations. today in egypt, one of those subtle diplomacy states and hillary clinton is mediating a second round of those talks. >> she shuttled herself over there. >> our produce wir will be a go between. >> we always get along. send us an e-mail. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ]

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in an era where it only takes a cell phone to bring a caught on camera moment, first in california meg whitman is trying to use bill clinton as a surrogate against jerry brown dredging up clips from the '92 clinton/brown presidential race in tv ads and latest from a debate where then candidate clinton said jerry brown raised taxes as governor of california. jerry brown reacted in this loose cannon moment caught on camera. brown in the habit of telling the truth made a monica lewinsky reference.

>> brown and clinton, there's no love loss between those two. never has been. brown did call clinton yesterday or attempted to call him at his harlem office. didn't get the former president on the phone but labrown launch a press conference calling clinton an excellent president saying i have made my sure of mistakes and that inappropriate joke was one of them. jerry brown is telling the truth on one part of this. the ads' claim is wrong. brown lowered taxes when he was governor rather than raising them and the cnn reporter whose claims were used runs factcheck.org and says the same thing as jerry brown. moving on to another moment

going viral. this time in the maine gubernatorial race where paul la page is rising against democratic speaker of the house largely under the national radar. it's never a good thing when a candidate calls his own press conference "an absolute disaster." that's what la page is saying about this made for tv moment. his wife declared primary residency in both maine and florida got tax breaks in both states. listen. >> can you clarify the residency status of your wife? >> we've answered that. we talked about that that's been answered. and folks, i'm running for governor. >> i haven't heard the answer, paul. why would your wife have to establish residency in florida to take care of her cousin? >> this is what i'm going say and i will not bring this up again. i am running for governor not my wife. i want to talk about the billion dollar shortfalls we have.

good-bye. >> why did you take your name off your real estate? >> i never had it on. never had it on. ever. >> have to say it's pretty odd that a candidate for governor can't answer the question about what state his wife calls home, florida or maine. to complete our social networking hat trick, chuck grassley's twitter followers appreciate his tweets. president obama while you sightseeing in paris you said time to deliver on health care when you are a hammer you think everything is nail. i'm no nail. 140 characters. grassley's newest ad makes reference to his fondness for twitter. >> haired chuck grassley has a twitter. >> can it be cured? >> not that kind. i like to use new technology like twitter and facebook just to keep in touch. and meetings and 99 counties

every year. i'll tweet, i'll text, i'll do whatever it takes. >> well, the ad even shows what are grassley's fingers texting his wife who appears in another campaign ad and tells the press she's put her foot down when it comes to tweeting in church. i had to tell him to knock it off motioning as if slapping the senator's hand put it away but i love that the voter in iowa thought the twitter was a disease because frankly it is. >> it kind of is. you're right. it is a disease. you got it bad, chuck. coming up next, one in eight seats on the federal bench is empty. where are all of the judges? plus a rare canndid conversatio with sating member of the u.s. supreme court. >> more people know the names of the three stooges than the three branches of government, that's not right. >> more of brian williams interview and what do you get the girl who has everything including a meat dress and meat accessories? we'll tell you. but first, today's trivia

question. who are the only three members of congress to cast two votes on the impeachment of the same president. that's a riddle. the answer and more still to come here on "the daily rundown." ♪ [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. ♪ [ mom ] game time is all about the traditions. it's all about the tackles and the touchdowns... and watching my boys do what they do. but for me, it's even more than that. game time is about our time. together. [ female announcer ] get low prices on all your favorites for the game. save money. live better. walmart.

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with my buddy mike, who is a terrible, terrible dancer. he's actually right behind... what up, mike? hey, dude! [ laughs ] yeah, this is how he dances. uhhh! [ laughs ] it's, uh, haunting. anyway, while i was away, the e-trade machine... thanks, martha.

...worked its technomagic, triggered my stop loss orders, saved me a pantload! [ pilot ] please fasten your seatbelts. dad? no, mike, that's the pilot. he's making an announcement! dad? ugh. [ male announcer ] upgrade to first class investing technology at e-trade. >> bottom of the hour now. savannah, what's driving the day? >> it's primary day, chuck. i can't believe i had to remind you in space shuttfull swing fo states and our nation's capital. we're tracking contests in delaware and new hampshire where conservative candidates expect strong support from voters. president obama heads to philadelphia for his second annual back-to-school speech talking about a quality education and tell kids to dream big and secretary of state hillary clinton is in egypt today participating in the second round of direct peace

talks between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas. other stories making headlines. pacific gas and electric set aside $100 million for residents affected by the deadly explosions in san bruno, california, near san francisco. the gas pipe that ruptured was over 50 years old that prompted state regulators to order pg&e to inspect all of its natural gas lines now. an increase in robo tripping. teenagers using various cough syrups to get high has led stores to get identification for the purchase of the medication. 73% jump between 2004 and 2008. moving on, they spend most of their time behind closed doors but we are getting a rare

look today. nbc nightly news anchor brian williams sat down with stephen breyer for a one-on-one interview. >> justice breyer spoke about a wide range of subjects including one very memorable decision. >> do you think bush v. gore hurt the credibility of the modern court? >> yes. >> for how long? >> i don't know. that's up to historians. i thought the decision -- i was in dissent. i thought the majority was wrong. i've heard harry reid who is the chief of the democratic forces, the democrats in the congress, he said -- i heard him say this. i agree with it completely. he said the most remarkable thing about that case, bush versus gore is hardly anybody

remarks and that remarkable thing is even though more than half of the public strongly disagreed with it, thought it was really wrong, they followed it. and the alternative using guns, having revolutions in the street is a worse alternative. it's taken quite a long time, many, many years, decades and decades, for americans to come to that understanding and that that fact that america will follow court decisions made by fallible human beings even when those integrate

those schools. the court didn't have any troops. the court said integrate the schools but it required the president and the 101st airborne to get it done. >> the media and coverage of the court specifically was also on the table. >> in this next exchange justice breyer discuss the possibility of having television cameras inside the court some day and this back and forth that he and justice scalia have had about it. >> would it be better for our understanding of the court if we could see more of the work? >> should we have television in the courtroom, which is a very good question. the answer to me is not obvious. we haven't voted on it. i haven't had to take a position. the reasons for doing it are obvious. i mean, television is part of the press. and i think wouldn't it have been a wonderful thing if television could have been in

the courtroom and seen the oral argument for example in the case of term limits and many of these cases. you would have seen nine people struggling toward an answer in a difficult kind of question. the arguments the other way are less obvious but no less valid. if we brought television in, do you think it would be in every courtroom in the country including criminal cases? if we brought -- people see their neighbors, worried about being seen by their neighbors or witnesses realize the whole community is seeing them testify. i don't know. >> interesting interview. >> supreme court justices don't do tv interviews. >> except for when they write books. >> which is what he's doing. >> that's the exception. having democrats in the majority in the senate has not made the judicial confirmation process any easier for the president. republicans have used tactics to stall dozen of nominees. >> they say president obama was slow out of the gate with his

nominations in the first place. pete williams joins us. >> they are both right. president obama is behind in terms of the number of nominees. this surprised his progressive supporters and astonished conservatives who made it a very big deal under the bush administration to get as many conservatives as they could. they were disciplined about it and surprised that a former constitutional law professor hasn't done more. congress has been slower. there was a vote last night for sixth circuit court of appeals based in ohio pending for ten months and was passed by the senate 71-21. senator leahy says at this point in the obama administration it's taking five times longer for circuit courts and three times longer for district courts. co consider this, john roberts left a vacancy in 2005 and that's yet

to be filled. five of the vacancies currently in the courts date to 2007. 38 nominations pending. what are the numbers? well in term of action on the president's nominees and president nominating judges, you put those two things together, this is the slowest since we've had since the nixon administration. slower than reagan, clinton, carter, both bush administrations. >> we have one in eight federal judgeships open right now vacant but let's do this so what thing. there are a lot of people who think what's the big deal? is there a crisis in the federal courts right now? why should people care about this? >> some of these are very long standing. half are what the federal courts consider to be judicial emergencies because they've been pending so long. what does it mean? it means that very often if you have a lawsuit in the federal courts you have to wait a lot longer for the lawsuit to come to trial especially if it is before a jury or before a judge.

just even just a judge. it slows everything down. sometimes it slows the criminal docket down as well. things pile up. everything takes longer. and that's not good for anybody. >> very quickly, of the nine circuits, which one does obama have the chance to sort of remake? >> he's already remade the fourth circuit court of appeals which was widely considered to be the most conservative circuit so much so that the bush administration tried to get guantanamo bay cases or enemy combatant cases confined there to have a more favorable court. those days are gone. >> pete williams, thank you. appreciate it. >> let's do our trivia. this one was a riddle. who are the only two members of congress to have cast two votes on the impeachment of the same president. >> the answer is charles schumer, mike krapo and jim bunning elected in 1998.

they voted on impeachment of president clinton in 2008 and voted on his conviction on which they did not convict him in the senate of february 1999. that's where we were going to there. >> exactly. fun fact for next cocktail party. still to come, why you may want to think twice before shaking a man's hand. never mind this thing that's sitting on her hand right now. there's no love loss between president obama and minority leader mitch mcconnell. will these two be forced to get a lot closer after november? coming up "the daily rundown" with mitch mcconnell looking to trade up his title to senate majority leader. >> the white house soup of the day is minestrone. >> the best soup created known to man. you can put anything you want in it. >> you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. [ engine revving ]

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in 1960, "the twist" by chubby checker hit number one on the charts. the only artist to have a song as number one twice. it topped the charts again in january 1962. >> there's one to grow on. congress is back in session. the debate over the bush era tax cuts is dominating the agenda. >> house republican leader john boehner signaled this weekend he's willing to make a concession and only extend the middle class tax cuts if that's the best deal they can get. in the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is determined to keep the tax cut where it is everyone getting a tax cut including top earners. mitch mcconnell joins us from capitol hill.

sir, let's start with the tax cuts. it seemed to me what john boehner, republican leader in the house was saying was, look, i can compromise if i have to. i would rather vote for middle class tax cuts than no tax cuts at all. let's clarify your position because you take a different view. you are saying you will vote against a tax cut for the middle class if you cannot get a tax cut for the upper income brackets. is that your position, sir? >> you know, first, i'm amused by the fact that everybody keeps calling these tax cuts as if we're doing people a favor to give them their money back. this has been tax policy now for almost ten years. this is not about tax cuts. this is about raising taxes in the middle of a recession. let me finish. this is about raising taxes in the middle of a recession. we should not be raising taxes on anyone in the middle of a recession. that's not just my view, that's a view of joe biden and evan bayh and ben nelson and five

democrats in the senate and a letter over in the house from so-called moderate democrats to the speaker, i don't know how many vigsignatures they finallyt on it but that we ought not raise taxes on americans in the middle of the economic slowdown. that's what we'll fight for here in the senate. >> why did you vote for these tax cuts in the first place if they would have an expiration date on them? >> only way to get them through was through a budget process that made them expire after a particular period of time and we extended them again. our view at the time back then my view of today is if i could make this tax level permanent it would be good for the country and that's my view today. >> back to the initial question, sir, even if we use your formulation here of raising taxes that this is a vote of raising taxes, because you differ with john boehner who said he would be willing to

compromise if it got to that not that it's his preference but would compromise, are you saying that you are willing to let the middle class taxes go up if you can't get an agreement with the white house to get the middle class taxes for the wealthier taxpayers? >> let me make it clear. what i'm saying is bipartisan opposition in the senate to raising taxes on anyone right now. that is my position. that is a position of at least five democrats in the senate and a growing number of democrats in the house. the question is are the democrats divided on the question of raising taxes in the middle of a recession? that's the perfect way to describe it. current tax policy is one level. they're talking about raising taxing. that's what this is about. a tax increase in the middle of a recession. >> would you support making the middle class tax cuts permanent and temporary extension of the top three percent of one to two

years? could you handle that as a compromise. it's where joe lieberman and democrats you brought up. could you support a compromise like that? >> i won't answer hypotheticals. i'll tell you what i think we ought to fight for in the senate is a permanent extension of the current tax rates. that's what we ought to fight for. i'm not going to answer any of the hypotheticals. that's my position as we go into this debate. if other side thinks this is a great debate to have six weeks before the election to look at politics of it, i assume they want to have the debate now before the election and even though this could be dealt with after the election. the reason they want to have it now is they think it's a good political debate for them. we're happy to have this debate. we think most americans think it's a bad idea to raise taxes on anybody in the middle of a recession. >> to not raise taxes you do forego revenue for the middle class at a cost of $3 trillion. the democrats like to point out

that not letting tax cuts expire for wealthiest americans will cost $700 billion over ten years. is this deficit spending that republicans support? >> look, we don't have this problem in washington because we tax too little. we have it because we spend too much. we have a spending problem. if we were to raise taxes now, which is a terrible idea, they would simply spend it. the president already has conceded that. it would be used to extend -- expand spending on whatever programs they think are reasonable to spend money on. what we need to do is to keep tax rates where they are and concentrate on spending and debt, which means reducing spending, which will then allow us to reduce debt. that's what we ought to be doing. >> you don't dispute we're going into debt for these tax cuts? you don't dispute that would require more debt? >> this has been the tax rate for ten years. we're in the situation we're in

because we spend too much, not because we tax too little. tax revenues have grown over the years. tax revenues have grown over the years that current tax rate. you know, the way to narrow the deficit, i would say to both of you, is to get the private sector economy growing again. you don't to that by raising taxes in the middle of a recession. >> you're not suggesting that the tax cuts will pay for themselves. no economist says the tax cuts will generate enough growth to make it even. >> the way to narrow the deficit is getting the private sector growing again. this tax rate inkreex that they're talking about will impact 50% of small business income and 25% of the workforce and then you'll hear our friends on the other side say it's only 3% of small businesses. you know how many small businesses that is? 750,000 small businesses would see their taxes go up and would

impact 50% of small business income and 25% of the workforce in the middle of a recession. that is exactly the wrong thing to do. >> let's move to politics here. are you going to support the republican nominee in delaware for the u.s. republicans? >> i'll support the republican nominee anywhere in america. if the election were tomorrow, we'd have a good day. we're optimistic that i'll increase our numbers and i'll be the leader in the next congress. >> you disagree with mike castle that christine oo'donnell is not qualified for the united states senate. >> look, the voters of delaware will decide this very day as we're speaking who they'll want the nominee for their senate to be, i'll support the republican nominee. >> do you agree with the analysis of mike castle and others if he loses today, there goes the hopes of a majority leader, mitch mcconnell. that the republicans have no chance of retaking the senate if this delaware race goes to

christine o'donnell. >> on the day of the primary, it doesn't matter what any of us think. the voters of delaware will make this decision and they had an opportunity to judge both the candidates and some time tonight we'll know who the republican nominee is going to be in delaware. >> have you asked lisa murkowski in atlanta not to have a write-in campaign. >> senator murkokski conceded the primary election, would be my hope, obviously, that she would accept that result and move on. >> but if you reach out to her, have you reached out to her -- >> i will not talk about private conversations. i talk to her frequently, i do all the time. she has been a member of our leadership team and i have a good relationship with her. she knows i'm supporting joe miller and i have contributed to joe miller and we expect him to be the next senator from alaska. >> last thing, we all know the

democrats' fortunes in this election don't look to be good. on the other hand, seven of the establishment republican picks, candidates you got behind in primaries have gone down to defeat, including in your home state of kentucky. so, do you feel like the republican party is rebuking your and the establishment picks? >> well, look, the primaries, the voters in the premaries get to decide who the nominees are. one state, utah, where the primary voters didn't get a chance to decide. it was done by convention. those things sort themselves out and we'll get behind the nominees of the party. the real elections are not in the primaries and the real election is in november and, as i said, i'm optimistic i'll be the leader of a larger group than i am right now. >> mitch mcconnell, we will leave it there and hope to have you back before the election. predictions on how many seats you think you'll pick up. >> thanks, chuck. all right, coming up next,

this is a gross one. who washes their hands more after using the restroom, men or women? do we even have to ask. >> follow us any time on twitter. our tweets are always clean and, by the way, our tweet of the day comes from watched @chucktodd discuss john boehner got really jealous of his tan. mine is fading. that is getting cliche. >> the tan comments. >> the tan jokes. >> i would say the press secretary started them, he didn't start them but robert gibbs did on twitter. >> be right back. ywhere you user you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. [ male announcer ] savory. fluffy. yummy. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda®. america's favorite no calorie sweetener. [ spray bottle ] what does she see in him? [ liquid cleaner ] well, he cleans three times more soap scum per swipe than you. [ spray bottle ] and i bring out the shine, too! ding!

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all right. let's take a dip in the shallow end, which, according to a new study is what more men should be doing. just 77% of men, apparently,

scrub up after using a public restroom. that is compared to 93% of women. let's hear it for the ladies. >> that's a flip, it used to be worse. as gross as this all seems three years ago just 66% of men felt the need to wash up after doing their business. chuck y know is beating the odds here. >> i'm a germaphob. the men can use the restroom, with only touching things that belong to him. >> let's not even get any further into this topic. let's move on. lady gaga, there's a safe topic. she insists she met no disrespect with her meat dress the other day. but ellen gave her a greener alternative, a bikini made out of kale complete with a matching skirt. >> some other ways you could have gone there. could have been spinach. all this stuff. >> that's it for "daily rundown." coming up next, richard lu. >> andrea mitchell reports with the breaking news on the

american hikers. plus, election day all day and we'll be all over the twitter giving you updates. i'm meteorologist bill karins with your business travel forecast. really nice weather conditions out there today. feeling like late summer, early fall. atlanta on the warmer side, sunny and nice and d.c. all the way up i-95 and chicago and detroit look good, little hot in phoenix and rather nice in denver.